Alvin, arms crossed and eyes half-lidded, stood in the archway of the main hall, staring at the chattering crowd of powered-up misfits with the exhausted patience of someone who had been saving worlds since before most of them learned to walk.
He raised a single brow. "Has anyone made breakfast?"
The talking stopped.
Silence rang like a bell.
Luis opened his mouth.
But it was Jax who blurted, "We just woke up! We were testing powers!"
Alvin blinked.
Then he rolled his eyes with the weight of centuries behind it. "Ah, yes. Priorities. Forget food, let's all toss fireballs at the curtains."
Sasha, still humming gently from her semi-hovering state, chuckled from the other side of the room. "Don't blame them. It's not every day you wake up with glowing fingers and floating children."
Alvin tilted his head toward her, offering a flat, "Auntie, please."
Sasha raised an eyebrow, clearly amused.
"You just came out of a fever that nearly fried your nerves," Alvin continued smoothly. "You need to learn to manage mana use before you faint trying to fry an egg."
Alex, seated beside her and sipping water with dignified silence, nodded sagely. "He has a point, darling."
"I'm fine," Sasha argued mildly, crossing her arms. "I've cooked with migraines before."
"And now you'll sit down with a cup of tea instead," Alvin said firmly, not unkindly. "You're too valuable to us to burn out over toast."
Sasha laughed. "What a charming way to be called old."
"I said valuable, not ancient."
She smirked.
Alvin turned, already targeting his next victims. His eyes narrowed at Luis, who was currently leaning against the kitchen doorframe, pretending he hadn't heard a thing.
"Luis."
Luis straightened immediately. "Yes?"
"Kitchen."
Luis groaned dramatically. "Why me?"
Alvin looked him over. "Because you're not a child. And Auntie needs rest. And if I cook, we'll all be eating questionable porridge again."
Luis cringed. "Fair."
"Take Jax," Alvin added.
Jax gave an exaggerated gasp of betrayal. "Me?!"
Luis grabbed him by the arm. "You control wind. You can make eggs cook faster."
"That's not how wind works—!"
"Now," Alvin ordered.
The two disappeared into the kitchen with the sound of muttered curses and cupboard doors banging open.
Meanwhile, Alex leaned toward Daniel, who had found a chair near the fireplace and was scribbling into a leather-bound notebook. Diagrams, notes, and power graphs filled the pages.
"Son," Alex whispered conspiratorially.
Daniel didn't look up. "Hm?"
"You should… maybe pay a little attention to your fated partner."
Daniel's pen froze mid-sentence.
"What?"
Alex nodded discreetly in Luis's direction. "He's been glancing at you. You're being too academic about it."
Daniel cleared his throat and coughed into his sleeve, ears turning an uncharacteristic pink. "I'm… still processing. It's a lot."
Alvin, not even trying to pretend he wasn't listening, muttered, "It took Xavier and me five minutes to process. A week to seal the deal."
Xavier, walking by with two mugs of tea, snorted. "A day, actually."
"I was trying to sound modest."
Daniel muttered something about logical compatibility and long-term evaluation models.
Xavier rolled his eyes so hard they nearly detached. "Just say you're shy."
"I'm analytical."
"You're emotionally constipated."
"Don't diagnose me like a patient."
"Then don't act like one."
Alvin smirked as the brothers bickered. He turned his head slightly and noticed Alice, sitting silently near the window. Her expression was distant, the glowing orb she'd been playing with earlier now dim in her palm.
He tilted his head.
"You okay?"
Alice didn't respond right away.
But Natasha, who had quietly joined Alvin on the couch, sighed softly. "She's been like that since earlier. She said she dreamed of Clara last night."
Alvin blinked.
He didn't say anything at first. Just stared at Alice for a moment, then nodded once and looked away.
There were no words that would fix that kind of grief.
He knew.
Too well.
But his stomach growled before he could dwell on it too long, and he shot Xavier a glare.
"You were in charge of feeding me, weren't you?"
Xavier raised both hands, tea still in one. "I'm not allowed in the kitchen anymore. You banned me after I tried to toast bread with my hands."
"I remember. You nearly ignited the butter."
Xavier walked over and plopped down beside Alvin, effectively nudging Natasha a full half-body length away.
She blinked. "Hey—"
"I'm talking to my partner now," Xavier said sweetly.
Alvin smirked.
Natasha huffed and got up. "Fine. I'll go play with my trauma orb somewhere else."
"You're such a drama queen," Xavier called after her.
"Takes one to know one!"
Alvin turned toward Xavier and tilted his head. "You two always fight like that?"
"Only since she turned twelve."
"I was gone for fifteen minutes and the house became a superpowered daycare," Alvin muttered.
Xavier wrapped an arm around his waist. "You love it."
Alvin leaned in. "...Only a little."
From the kitchen, the sound of something exploding rang out.
"LUIS!" Jax shouted.
"That was supposed to happen!"
"No it wasn't—!"
"Alvin said hurry!"
Alvin raised his voice without looking. "If I smell burnt anything, you're on dish duty for a month!"
From behind the wall: "Understood!"
The smell of eggs and something vaguely pancake-like drifted into the room.
Alex chuckled into his cup.
Daniel finally closed his notebook, glancing toward the kitchen.
Xavier rested his chin on Alvin's shoulder, content.